THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHICAGO — The Cincinnati Reds got some good news Thursday when MRI results on two-time 16-game winner Aaron Harang showed only a strain of his right forearm.
The six-foot-seven right-hander, who allowed a career-high seven walks and six runs in 4 1-3 innings in Tuesday’s 7-3 loss to the Cubs, complained of pain in his forearm the next morning and went back to Cincinnati to have his arm examined.
Harang has been instructed to not pick up a baseball for a week. Reds general manager Walt Jocketty said Thursday that Harang would be placed on the 15-day disabled list.
"We just wanted to make sure to take the time to let it heal so that when he comes back he’s 100 per cent," Jocketty said. "I would expect at the end of the two-week period he’ll be ready to go."
Manager Dusty Baker was happy with the news and pointed out that Harang will only miss 12 days with the three-day all-star break starting Monday.
"Yeah, great news on Aaron," Baker said. "This was what the doctor thought. It’s a strained muscle. That’s huge. I guess they instructed him to not pick up a ball for a week and get rested and treated. Hopefully, he’ll come back smoking."
Harang, a 16-game winner in each of the previous two seasons, is 3-11 with a 4.76 ERA this year. Harang, who pitched four innings in relief on May 25 on two days’ rest, has gone 1-5 with a 7.31 ERA since.
